If cash check marked "PAID IN FULL" am I agreeing to that? It's NOT paid in full!

[michele292]

If cash check marked "PAID IN FULL" am I agreeing to that? It's NOT paid in full!

What is the name of your state? Georgia

I received a check from a man for about a third of what he owes me. However, he wrote "PAID IN FULL" on the 'for' section of the check. If I cash it, am I agreeing to what he wrote; that 'it' is paid in full? It does NOT say what is paid for and there is no written contract between us. However, I have receipts etc. to prove that MORE money is owed to me. And doesn't his check prove debt owed?

Someone please help me. I don't want to deposit this check (but I need the money) if I am giving up any chance of getting the rest of my money.

Thank you!

 

[lealea1005]

What is the name of your state? Georgia

I received a check from a man for about a third of what he owes me. However, he wrote "PAID IN FULL" on the 'for' section of the check. If I cash it, am I agreeing to what he wrote; that 'it' is paid in full? It does NOT say what is paid for and there is no written contract between us. However, I have receipts etc. to prove that MORE money is owed to me. And doesn't his check prove debt owed?

Someone please help me. I don't want to deposit this check (but I need the money) if I am giving up any chance of getting the rest of my money.

Thank you!

I am not a lawyer but, at our business we would not accept and/or cash that check.

Wait a little bit and I'm sure some one with come by with an answer for you. Good luck!

 

[moburkes]

I'd cross it out, and cash it, but that's not legal advice at all.

 

[BL]

Q. If I mark my check paid in full, does that erase the unpaid part of the debt?

A. In most circumstances, the answer is no. When there is a real dispute between the parties as to the amount of the debt, the debtor makes a payment marked paid in full, and the creditor accepts and cashes the check, an accord and satisfaction has occurred. With a genuine accord and satisfaction, the creditor or collector has two choices: He can reject the payment and send the check back to the consumer or he can accept the offered settlement and cash the check wiping out the underlying debt.
Under the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), the law that states what must happen for an accord and satisfaction to occur, the cashing of a check is considered satisfaction of a claim if:

The checkwriter gives the check to the other party in a good faith attempt to settle the debt;
The amount of the debt is disputed by the parties; and
Either on the check or in an accompanying document, the checkwriter provides a conspicuous statement that the check is in full satisfaction of the claim.
If you have a good faith dispute about the amount of your debt with a large company that processes hundreds of payments a day, simply writing payment in full on your check and sending it to the payment address will usually not act as an accord and satisfaction of the debt.

 

[moburkes]

Thanks, I know that I found that before for someone, but couldn't find it this morning.

 

[BL]

Thanks, I know that I found that before for someone, but couldn't find it this morning.

Return To Sender? - laws about cashing checks for partial payment of goods or services - Brief Article
Entrepreneur, April, 1999 by Steven C. Bahls, Jane Easter Bahls
Don't cash that check! You could end up short.

SUPPOSE ONE OF your customers is rumored to be nearing the brink of bankruptcy. You're relieved to finally receive a check from the company for the latest shipment of goods--until you notice it's for only half the amount owed. On the back, the check is stamped "payment in full." What should you do?

A decade ago, according to common law, you could endorse the check with the phrase "under protest." Then you could cash it and still have the right to pursue the customer, in court if necessary, for the balanced owed. That practice, however, has been disallowed by many states. In the past several years, many statutes have been passed that update the Uniform Commercial Code, the set of laws that govern commerce. Now if you cash the check, you've accepted that amount to settle the debt. If you're not willing to accept that amount, you have to send the check back.

Check you State's Laws .